Chapter 53: NO BACKSTABBING – ROOKIE: Surviving Your Freshman Year of College Soccer

If you want your teammates to ostracize you in a hurry, here’s a foolproof recipe: Talk badly about them behind their backs.

To be honest, I’m not really sure if it’s such a good idea to even include this chapter because if you’re not a person who backstabs your teammates, you don’t need to read it. And if you are that type of person, I doubt that reading this book is going to save you. But I’m going to include it anyway, if for no other reason than maybe it will give you the courage to confront a teammate who begins to backstab other teammates.

Team chemistry hinges on the ability of teammates to trust one another. That will never happen when players are worried about what’s being said when they aren’t in the room. Incidentally, just so we are crystal clear about this, when you speak badly about a teammate behind her back, she absolutely will find out about it. Believe it! And when she does, then you’ve got some real problems. And chances are your team does too.

To have great teammates, you’ve first got to be a great teammate. For teammates to protect you, you have to be willing to protect them. Instead of slamming your teammates when they aren’t around, make it your goal to protect them instead. Don’t tolerate it when others start badmouthing your teammates. Don’t be afraid to stand up and say, “Hey, so and so is a friend of mine and I don’t appreciate you talking behind her back like this.”

Yeah, it’s difficult to have the courage to stand up to anyone in a situation like this, particularly a teammate, but if you do, word will get around that you’re a stand-up teammate and your street credit will go through the roof.

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